Mage Paradigms
Creating your mage's paradigm Paradigm is the single most important aspect of creating a Mage character. Your paradigm is the way you believe your magic works, and your conception of reality and the universe. Belief is central to Awakened magic. If you don't believe it can work, it simply can't. Defining your paradigm is as simple as stating your character's belief about how his magic works, what he believes that allows it to work, and what methods and tools allow him to do so. Examples of this include a Celestial Chorus mage who invokes the power of Fire by using a sword and invoking the name of the Archangel Michael, or a Virtual Adept who runs a program he wrote with a randomization algorithm to work with chance and fortune. A goodly portion of a Mage's paradigm will be defined by his Tradition. Some aspects of it will always be personal, however, and those are the aspects you must define when creating a mage. . Paradigm Depth How deeply you perceive and believe your Paradigm is partly based on your level of enlightenment (Arete), and partly based on the nature of your character on a psychological level. If your character is not a philosophical sort, or a mystic, or a spiritual devout, he may not have a great deal of depth to his paradigm until he grows a great deal through Seekings. *'Surface: '''Most common among newly-Awakened mages, this level of depth describes a paradigm that is more or less defined as 'this is just how it works,' without much real philosophy behind it. *'Shallow: Your mage doesn't really think about paradigm much -- he just believes it on a gut level. He can explain why and how it works in a very sketchy way, and he knows some things work better than others for him, but he doesn't spend much time contemplating it. *'Strong: '''You understand the metaphysics of your paradigm and beliefs well, and have tested theory and explored other possibilities. *'Deep: 'It is rare that a mage reaches this point without a great deal of cosmic awareness (high Arete) and a personality that tends toward delving into the mysteries of his personal reality and the universe. It is so much a part of the character that it is almost impossible to separate mage and paradigm on any conceptual level. . Paradigm Style Style describes how your mage sees other Paradigms in relation to his own. *'Rigid: You believe your paradigm is the One True Way. *'Closed:' Your paradigm is very personal, and you may try and demonstrate its worth to others in discussions. *'Open:' You believe that there are many paths to enlightenment, and tend to be tolerant of others' views. *'Liberal: '''Your paradigm is ever-changing, and you adopt parts of others' paradigms at times when you think they will work well for you. . Hooks Hooks are short sentences that define your beliefs and view. These should be conceptual, broad definitions. Generally, three of these should be good enough to define a paradigm in broad strokes. Some samples: *'There is only one truth: All things converge on a single true reality. *'''All things act in sympathy: Magic works by the attraction of similar things, and invoking power requires the use of something very much like the end result. *'We're all connected: '''Connections define the whole of reality, and creating additional connections between people and things, and the world in which they reside, strengthens reality as a whole. *'As above, so below: 'The planets and stars in the cosmos affect us in their motion and interaction. Their cosmic influences are felt on the personal level. *'We're all one: '''Every person is a part of the greater whole, and reflects some small aspect of the larger picture. . Foci (singular: Focus) (from MtA Rev:) "In simple terms, a focus is a concentration aid. Foci are thus the items, rituals and practices that mages use to tap their magical power. A focus may be a totally mundane object or ritual, with no power of its own, but because the mage believes not only in the focus' power but in her ability to use it, the focus opens the door to magic. A novice mage can sense the power of magic just out other reach. Through a style and a set of foci, that mage learns a way to channel that power. With time and experience, these foci become second nature to the mage, their power so carefully carried and understood that the mage considers the foci extensions other own will. At length, the mage may come to understand that ultimately the foci were simply a way to express magic, but that the magic comes from within herself. "Each Tradition lists a series of different sorts of foci that are commonly used. A Tradition mage can use any of these foci for the appropriate tasks. It's all a matter of figuring out how the focus would stylistically fit with the magic. If one focus doesn't seem appropriate for your ritual, pick another one! Of course, some foci have better resonance, some mages are better with some foci, and some foci might also be Wonders with powers of their own. And, of course, there's power in uniqueness. If a focus is one of a kind, tied to the mage in some special way, it has more power." . Specialty (or Personal) Foci (From MtA Rev) "''Personal foci ''are the specific tools with which a mage studies the keystones of her Spheres. When you build your mage character, decide on a specialty focus for each of her Spheres. That particular tool is one with which the mage is very skilled. In all castings where the mage uses the specialty focus, you get a one-point break on the difficulty, making the spell easier to cast. Your mage can still do the magic in other ways, she's just better in this one special form of casting. Therefore, your mage can rely on all the normal, standard foci for all other Spheres, but her training gives an edge when she uses the sorts of tools that she knows best." . Unique foci (From MtA Rev) ''"Unique foci ''are literally unique items — handcrafted or personally invented devices or individualized, used-only-once-ever rituals. Such items have a great deal of power for the mage because they are tied to her so intimately. Obviously, a unique focus works best for the mage who made it. Only the mage who actually invented the focus can reap its benefits. Like a personal focus, the unique focus gives a difficulty modifier of one in addition to other modifiers. If your mage uses magical candles as a personal focus for Mind magic, and she handcrafts a candle specifically for the purpose, the use of that candle gets the bonuses for both its unique status and for being a specialty focus. "However, a unique focus is irreplaceable. If a mage's unique focus for a Sphere is lost, broken or destroyed, the mage may have difficulty coming up with a replacement. Often, a mage needs a specific unique focus to work certain types of magic. If you have chosen a unique focus for your mage and that focus is lost, destroyed or used up, then the mage must perform all magic in that Sphere as if attempting to surpass a focus. You can't have a benefit without a commensurate downside, after all. This penalty can only be overcome if your mage manages to make or acquire a new focus, or if your mage achieves sufficient enlightenment to abandon foci for that Sphere." . Resonance See the page on Resonance Traits for more details on this. . Category:Mage Category:Rules